How is it going since then? You might have written and I'll be looking around. You share great information here. I think it needs to be shared more often because so many are unaware of this. I was until I got breast cancer in my early 30s. I had no idea about the link until later. I hope things are going well for you and it's good that they caught it before it completely metastasized!
Cool …I do think the reasons for choosing sobriety has to be an inside job though …rather than chosen because of scientific studies.
Navigating what we consume is a constant and the key, for me at least, is, “Does this add life, is it of a neutral impact or does it compromise life engagement and my vitality?”
Clearly for your 108-year old great grandmother, it added life, rather than took it away.
As for your mom, it is also clear that some form of disconnect happened with her appreciation of alcohol and her abuse and excesses of it which led to her early death.
Drawing that line, to drink or not to drink, is really not as much about the science as it is about our own life force and honoring that inner voice that says, “This is Cab, or Chard, or Mescal tastes a amazing and this delights me or, it actually doesn’t taste great and isn’t worth the sip or the glass or bottle because I know, I”ll feel like s#*t the next day.”
Alcohol is just one of hundreds of environmental carcinogens we are constantly exposed to and certainly your recent face-to-face encounter with cancer has sharpened your focus on eliminating the ones you have more control over, in terms of exposure.
Good on you ❣️
Having lost a sister and mother to breast cancer I also know, based on their alcohol consumption, that alcohol was not the likely culprit.
Re: Ireland’s initiative, sounds like it is long overdue and congrats to that country for taking a lead on mandating some basic warning that does reflect the science. A great start !
Thanks Cecily for a thoughtful and honest reflection of your passion here to raise awareness.
Thanks for reading and for taking a moment to comment so thoughtfully.
I think we are mostly in agreement:
1. Whether we drink or not (I try to avoid the labels "sober" or "sobriety") is an "inside job," a choice for most of us, the exception being those who are on an addiction path and have sadly lost the freedom to choose. Facts about health risks can be one factor in making those choices.
2. For many, the benefits of the experience of drinking in some form are themselves contributing to our wellbeing, so that has to be taken into consideration in making our choices to drink or not. This is why I gave the example of my great-grandmother.
3. Yes, my cancer experience sharpened my focus, but I had already removed alcohol from my repertoire six years ago. But it was only AFTER I had a cancer diagnosis that I learned of the link between alcohol and cancer. I am advocating for more access to this information so people can make more informed choices, like I did with cigarettes decades ago.
Where I think we may not be totally aligned / some clarification is needed:
1. I'm not advocating for choices for anyone solely based on scientific studies (though some people might)––and I tried to make this clear in my post. My advocacy is around increased access to the science so that people CAN make fully informed choices. We've got a very powerful industry working hard to keep helpful health information out of our hands (much like Big Tobacco did) and this needs to stop. This is why I celebrate Ireland's moves last week.
2. You note the reason to not drink is an awareness of the next-day hangover. Sadly, too many people think this is the only price we pay. Yes, hangovers suck and our interest in avoiding them is a great motivator to drink less or not at all. By almost ALL of my ClearLife work seeks to raise awareness around the infinite other upsides to not drinking that go far, far beyond sparkly weekend mornings. Benefits are (1) physical (hormone levels, sleep quality, organ health, physical appearance, motivation to exercise, hydration––reduction in exposure to a known carcinogen...etc.), (2) mental/psychological (equanimity/mood consistency, full access to our actual feelings, access to all of that life force and time pre/during/post drinking, the ability to resolve the ever-so-common victim/villain/hero drama triangle, and a pervasive sense of calm and ease that seems to show up when we rejigger life, finances, health, and all else to be a more true reflection of our core values), and (3) spiritual/heart (a fluid and deep relationship with our intuition, our ability to do deep self-awareness work + grow, true presence with loved ones and our spiritual practice of choice, and more).
Again, I appreciate your chiming in with your thoughts. There are few, if any, bright lines here, just an ongoing exploration and I appreciate your voice, and life force! -Cecily
How is it going since then? You might have written and I'll be looking around. You share great information here. I think it needs to be shared more often because so many are unaware of this. I was until I got breast cancer in my early 30s. I had no idea about the link until later. I hope things are going well for you and it's good that they caught it before it completely metastasized!
Cool …I do think the reasons for choosing sobriety has to be an inside job though …rather than chosen because of scientific studies.
Navigating what we consume is a constant and the key, for me at least, is, “Does this add life, is it of a neutral impact or does it compromise life engagement and my vitality?”
Clearly for your 108-year old great grandmother, it added life, rather than took it away.
As for your mom, it is also clear that some form of disconnect happened with her appreciation of alcohol and her abuse and excesses of it which led to her early death.
Drawing that line, to drink or not to drink, is really not as much about the science as it is about our own life force and honoring that inner voice that says, “This is Cab, or Chard, or Mescal tastes a amazing and this delights me or, it actually doesn’t taste great and isn’t worth the sip or the glass or bottle because I know, I”ll feel like s#*t the next day.”
Alcohol is just one of hundreds of environmental carcinogens we are constantly exposed to and certainly your recent face-to-face encounter with cancer has sharpened your focus on eliminating the ones you have more control over, in terms of exposure.
Good on you ❣️
Having lost a sister and mother to breast cancer I also know, based on their alcohol consumption, that alcohol was not the likely culprit.
Re: Ireland’s initiative, sounds like it is long overdue and congrats to that country for taking a lead on mandating some basic warning that does reflect the science. A great start !
Thanks Cecily for a thoughtful and honest reflection of your passion here to raise awareness.
Hi Trey :)
Thanks for reading and for taking a moment to comment so thoughtfully.
I think we are mostly in agreement:
1. Whether we drink or not (I try to avoid the labels "sober" or "sobriety") is an "inside job," a choice for most of us, the exception being those who are on an addiction path and have sadly lost the freedom to choose. Facts about health risks can be one factor in making those choices.
2. For many, the benefits of the experience of drinking in some form are themselves contributing to our wellbeing, so that has to be taken into consideration in making our choices to drink or not. This is why I gave the example of my great-grandmother.
3. Yes, my cancer experience sharpened my focus, but I had already removed alcohol from my repertoire six years ago. But it was only AFTER I had a cancer diagnosis that I learned of the link between alcohol and cancer. I am advocating for more access to this information so people can make more informed choices, like I did with cigarettes decades ago.
Where I think we may not be totally aligned / some clarification is needed:
1. I'm not advocating for choices for anyone solely based on scientific studies (though some people might)––and I tried to make this clear in my post. My advocacy is around increased access to the science so that people CAN make fully informed choices. We've got a very powerful industry working hard to keep helpful health information out of our hands (much like Big Tobacco did) and this needs to stop. This is why I celebrate Ireland's moves last week.
2. You note the reason to not drink is an awareness of the next-day hangover. Sadly, too many people think this is the only price we pay. Yes, hangovers suck and our interest in avoiding them is a great motivator to drink less or not at all. By almost ALL of my ClearLife work seeks to raise awareness around the infinite other upsides to not drinking that go far, far beyond sparkly weekend mornings. Benefits are (1) physical (hormone levels, sleep quality, organ health, physical appearance, motivation to exercise, hydration––reduction in exposure to a known carcinogen...etc.), (2) mental/psychological (equanimity/mood consistency, full access to our actual feelings, access to all of that life force and time pre/during/post drinking, the ability to resolve the ever-so-common victim/villain/hero drama triangle, and a pervasive sense of calm and ease that seems to show up when we rejigger life, finances, health, and all else to be a more true reflection of our core values), and (3) spiritual/heart (a fluid and deep relationship with our intuition, our ability to do deep self-awareness work + grow, true presence with loved ones and our spiritual practice of choice, and more).
Again, I appreciate your chiming in with your thoughts. There are few, if any, bright lines here, just an ongoing exploration and I appreciate your voice, and life force! -Cecily